


Now Kiss

by Perfect_Stranger



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Bad Jokes, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 17:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14958944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perfect_Stranger/pseuds/Perfect_Stranger
Summary: Roadhog takes Junkrat on a little holiday in the sun, but somehow the beach doesn't get a lot of attention from either of them.





	Now Kiss

There was a lot to be said for constant sunshine when one could actually regulate the amount one got in a pleasant environment with plenty of refreshments. Stolen, in Junkrat and Roadhog's case, but at least this time they weren't actively on the run and had had all the time in the world to find a nice spot away from everything and everyone.

"Plenty of coast to choose from in Australia," Roadhog had said as they'd set out, and Junkrat had cheered and cackled in a way that made his heart skip a little. He'd had to look away; as much as he enjoyed their trips and adventures, lately he'd been a little worried.

There were times when he wondered if Junkrat could be into him, but then again it could just be usual Junkrat being Junkrat that Roadhog was misinterpreting. It was one thing to be a post-apocalyptic road warrior who didn't mind shooting people in the face if things got to that point (though often he chose not to). That didn't mean he couldn't be a decent person with people who mattered. Being a creep, even accidentally, to his much younger partner in crime and best friend... yeah, of all the lines he wasn't willing to cross, causing Junkrat harm was in his top three. The absolute top of the top three.

Probably best not to actually tell Junkrat that, of course. He'd just do his "I am _hurt_ and _wounded_ " song and dance every time Roadhog suggested that he might try a little less hard to lose his remaining limbs; these days even that was enough to make Roadhog feel kind of bad, especially when Junkrat gave him the puppy eyes. Possibly slightly radioactive brain-fried puppy eyes, but Roadhog had accepted long ago that his views on what could be considered cute were rather flexible.

Yep, there were definitely feelings. Had been for a while. Not unwelcome, actually, even if they weren't returned. It was just nice to have something that was so fun and adventurous and explosive in his life. Would be even nicer if Junkrat felt the same, but it wasn't like Roadhog was some melodramatic teen who would just _die_ if he couldn't have his juvenile heart's desire.

"Here, Hoggy," Junkrat said, shoving a watermelon kind of out of nowhere into Roadhog's arms.

Roadhog blinked at the fruit, then split it expertly using nothing more than the strength of his hands while Junkrat watched, eyes wide and bright. It was moments like this that made him wonder if there really could be something more in that keenly interested stare. It was kind of hard to tell with guys like Junkrat, who had little concept of personal space and almost too much invincible friendliness for his own good. Roadhog would've been able to make some comparisons if they had other friends Junkrat could be himself with, but somehow that never worked out, did it? Even though Junkrat tried so hard to be nice to people who then looked down on him. Bastards.

"Here, Rat," Roadhog grunted as he gave Junkrat his half of the melon.

Junkrat grinned. "Hey, could've at least called me Ratty as is proper when I gave you a nickname first!"

"You aren't that ratty." Roadhog grinned back under his mask.

"Not the cranky kind of ratty, the other kind!" Junkrat stuck a spoon into the melon with a delicious crunch and wrenched it around until he had shaken off a chunk just about small enough to fit into his mouth. A trickle of sweet juice escaped down the corner of his mouth, and he took his time savouring the fruit before wiping his chin with the back of his hand. The metal one, to Roadhog's eternal consternation but not surprise. "Bloody hell, this is so good and crisp and juicy. Absolute best thing to eat at the beach."

Roadhog nodded and started to remove the straps of his mask to taste it for himself. There was that stare again as soon as his hands went behind his head, locking onto the spot where his face would appear. "Glad to have them again," he said as he took the mask off and felt the ocean breeze on his face for the first time in weeks. Nice feeling. He hadn't been able to go bare-faced outside for a while. Maybe they should lie low for a while and just spend some time having fun in places like this one. Just stretches of coast and blue sea as far as the eye could see, under the gentler winter sun.

"Yeah..." Junkrat said after a downright unnaturally long pause for him. "...yeah." He continued to watch as his hands fidgeted with his watermelon first, then with his beer, then with a few other things Roadhog didn't pay attention to as he was beginning to wonder if he should be feeling a bit self-conscious about this scrutiny by now.

Self-conscious... or hopeful.

"The water looks nice," he offered as a distraction, but was only distracted by the sound of his own unfiltered voice. It really had been a while. "You... should put on your sunscreen first. Wait a little before going in."

Junkrat laughed, shaking his beer a little. With the way he'd been handling it so far - about the same amount of gentleness he showed to his bombs - it'd probably explode right in his face when he cracked it open. He'd most likely laugh at that, too. "Right. No point in getting any more skin cancer now that we've got our fancy sunscreens."

"They're not fancy." Roadhog finally looked Junkrat in the eye and paused at the restless brightness he saw there. It occurred to him that if he'd wanted to avoid making things awkward between himself and the much younger man he had feelings for, he probably shouldn't have brought him out to this secluded spot. Probably. "...just don't want you getting sick now that we can do something about it."

Junkrat squinted at him like he usually did when he was trying to figure Roadhog out, but his grin lingered. "Aww, mate. Is that worry I hear?"

Roadhog snorted, but it wasn't an entirely happy sound. "Is it a surprise? It's my job to keep you from dying in a horrible way."

"Oh. Right." This slightly grim confession seemed to sober Junkrat a little, and he quickly went to rummage around in his loot until he found his sunscreen. He returned shortly, brandishing his prize. "Well, here's to maybe actually getting a tan instead of looking like a boiled lobster! Never had these things before, but it looks pretty legit to me. And what's this? 'Instant... bonzer'?" Upon this happy discovery, Junkrat's mood whiplashed right back to lunatic cackling joy. "Hoggy, it says it's going to make me bonzer! I don't know how the world can handle an even greater me, but we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

"It's bronzer," Roadhog corrected, but he was grinning too now. "Gives you a little head start in getting a tan. Probably still look like a lobster, though."

"Ah well, you're probably right," laughed Junkrat as he popped the cap and filled his palm with the light brown cream, getting right to work. "Maybe it's dangerous for me to go to the water looking like this. Maybe I'll attract sharks. You'll have to come with me, being my bodyguard. Hey, wasn't your name a type of shark?" He squinted again, and his sunscreen spreading hand slowed down a little. "What was it again? Mackerel? Mackerel shark? Is that a real shark or did I just dream it?"

This time Roadhog couldn't help bursting into laughter; Junkrat usually had that effect on him sooner or later. " _Mackerel_? It's a real shark, but the wrong word!" His entire body shook, and he couldn't help but notice that Junkrat stopped moving entirely to watch. There was that twinge of hope again that sobered him enough to finish what he wanted to say. Probably a good thing too, as his lungs had a bit of a problem with these Junkrat-induced laughing fits. "I'm _Mako_ , Rat. Some people are content with just forgetting their friends' birthdays, you know."

At least Junkrat had the social grace to look slightly sheepish, though he tried to mask it with some joking bravado. "Aw, Roadie, you know I'm not great with names. And you know I'm not just some people. I'm the one and only Jamison Fa... Fow... uh, Fox!"

"Apology accepted," Roadhog concluded, still shaking a little as he wiped his eyes. "And you'll probably be the reason I won't actually see my next birthday, too."

"What, you don't like the idea of dying of laughter in my brilliant company? I'm _shocked_ , Roadhog." Junkrat tapped his peg leg on the sun-baked rock under their feet, empty hand ending up dramatically on his hip. The other hand, the robotic one, tossed the bottle of sunscreen at Roadhog. "Here, at least do my back so I won't blend in with the coral reef."

It took Roadhog a moment to get up; a good belly laugh was a nice thing, but they tended to leave him feeling a little weakened, and this one wasn't quite over yet. Still, it was also a nice thing that he had someone he could be weak with. "Turn around, then."

Since Junkrat always seemed to be vibrating a little, Roadhog told himself this time was just his usual perpetual motion as well. It was possibly the laughing fit making him another little bit closer to Junkrat, it was possibly the fact they might as well have been all alone in the world here on the coast. Everything suddenly felt a bit too intense under the brilliant sun; the tolerable but persistent heat, the slightly cooler air in the spots where the rocks shadowed them, the salt-sprinkled wind from the sea. The way Junkrat was so close to him again, as usual, as always, but this time here in the middle of nowhere on the seemingly endless Australian coastline.

Shaking himself a little, Roadhog quickly poured some sunscreen on his palm without even looking at the bottle first. It had stayed surprisingly cool in Junkrat's bag, but it was the scent he paused at. "...ha. I used to smell this all the time before the war. We ran out pretty quickly afterwards."

"Yeah? Well, I've got your Australian Gold right here, mate!" Different brand, actually, but why let that get in the way of a joke? Junkrat looked over his shoulder with a waggle of his eyebrows that looked a bit like an elaborate caterpillar mating dance. It was ridiculous enough that it could be taken as typical Junkrat banter, but maybe... maybe...

Swallowing down the rising hope, Roadhog unceremoniously slapped his hand on Junkrat's upper back and slid it down until it hit the shorts. And no lower would it go. Unless Junkrat said it should. "There, done."

"...what?" Junkrat looked over his shoulder again, eyebrows perpetually raised this time. "That's it?"

Roadhog shrugged, feeling oddly helpless. "Can't help having big hands."

"Then use just a finger or something, mate," Junkrat complained as he turned to face his bodyguard, hand reaching for the bottle. "Guess I'll just do the rest of it myself, then..."

With a snort, an entirely amused one this time, Roadhog squeezed some of the sunscreen on just a finger. He leaned over a suddenly very quiet, very focused Junkrat, and covered his scalp where it had been exposed by either radiation or a very bizarre male balding pattern. Junkrat looked up at him the whole time, as if waiting for something. He didn't look pleased when Roadhog just straightened his back once he was done tracing his gentle scented patterns into his employer's head.

"There, you can thank me now. Figured you'd forget those spots."

"Yeah, mate, thanks for reminding me I'm going bald at the ripe old age of 25," Junkrat tittered, and Roadhog knew there was no bitterness behind the joking; Junkrat really didn't care about such things. "But, you know..."

Roadhog didn't know, or was telling himself he didn't know. "What?"

"You _know_ ," Junkrat repeated. "Just trying to see if you'd maybe respond." His eyes had that unbearable brightness to them again, but this time Roadhog couldn't quite look away from it. Junkrat gave him a lopsided grin. "Still, I _am_ your employer. I was worried maybe I'd be harassing you if I tried... you know."

"Oh." The reality of the situation finally forced itself through Roadhog's careful denial, and he just had to laugh again once the shock had worn off a little. "Oh, right. And here I was thinking I don't want to be a dirty old man."

"Well, I'm the one of us who's got to be dirty, mate, it's practically in our contract," Junkrat almost babbled, his strange full-body vibration thing in full force again. His restless energy spent a moment buzzing through his body until it found a target to focus on. With a nervous swallow and a grin, Junkrat reached for Roadhog's chin, his hand stopping just a few centimetres from it. "Well, then, can I..."

"What?" Roadhog could barely suppress his own grin, but suppress it he did; he liked annoying Junkrat a little sometimes just to see the sparks, and, he had to admit, this time he too felt a little nervous. It had been a while since the last time he had felt that way. Or this way.

Junkrat actually twitched despite grinning like the absolute maniac he was. "Bloody hell, you _are_ an old man, aren't you. _May_ I?"

Torn between his own nerves and wanting to get on Junkrat's nerves, Roadhog paused for a moment.

"Don't worry," Junkrat said in a ridiculous croon, "I'll be gentle."

As Roadhog chuckled quietly at the idea of a gentle Junkrat, he felt the watermelon's sweet fragrance as Junkrat put a hand on Roadhog's neck and pulled his face closer. The taste still lingered on Junkrat's lips. Sharing their spoils as always. Everything about it was surprising to Roadhog despite the many thoughts he'd had about this possibly happening; the way time seemed to slow down just a little bit, the way he suddenly couldn't feel his own years anymore, the way the leisurely crashing waves and the brightness overhead faded away into the background. Peace and quiet. It was actually possible to have some peace and quiet with Junkrat...

...which was short-lived, of course; just as Roadhog was starting to wonder if he should be taking the kiss a little further, if Junkrat was hoping for that, Junkrat began to vibrate again and soon broke the kiss himself. He let out a wordless squeal of utter joy and did one of his little dances that were usually reserved only for the best and demolishing of his explosions.

"A... ace! Roadie, that was ace!" Junkrat put his arms around himself, shaking a little. His peg leg clacked as he jumped around on the rock. "Sorry I can't think of anything else to say, I think my brain just shorted!"

Still a little stunned by all this although he really should've been expecting it by now, Roadhog still couldn't help but laugh a little. "You talk a lot for someone with a shorted brain."

"Yeah, well, that's just the effect you have on me." Junkrat came to a halt, eyes quickly finding Roadhog's. He didn't look like he'd spent all of his energy boost yet. "So uhh, Roadie..."

And maybe that was a good thing. "Yeah, Rat?"

Junkrat nodded at the bottle of sunscreen. "Wanna do the rest of me?"

Well, it looked like they'd both danced around the topic for a while before this, wondering how the other would feel about it. Now that it was all out in the open, there was really no reason to waste any more time.

"...yeah. Yeah, Rat."

 


End file.
